Westlake High School - El Paisano Yearbook (Austin, TX)

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fU §@ mon Compliments My that ' s nice polyester you ' re wearing. The dentist did wonders with your teeth. I love your 1940s bouffant hairstyle. • Those stripes make you look thinner. Single file Band members organize their lines during their daily morning practice. In the fall, the band met for almost two hours at seven, weather per- mitting. Behind the scenes Outside time makes demands to perfect final performances So many hours of practice, too numerous to count, prior to that one minute of performance that seemed so short--until the applause. ' The drama squad put an av- erage of 100 hours into just one play production, Ron Dodson, di- rector, said. The drama squad put those hard worked hours into photo ses- sions, advertising, costume fittings and finally the performance. I get the happiness and satis- faction (of working hard) through just being in front of the audience, senior Fleur Fox said. Some performing groups re- lied on the help of other per- forming groups, including musi- cians. When the Orchestra goes to UIL competition in the spring, some of the band students volun- teer to accompany us. It turns out really great and everyone enjoys themselves, Dr. David Sloan, Or- chestra director said. Art is performing. You work hard on a project and then it ' s dis- played. You may not be there but your name is, senior honors art student, James Morehead, said. Among the diversity of per- formance activities, all shared a common relation. Practice behind the scenes resulted in perfection. Although it can be hard to put in a great deal of time it all pays off in the end, senior Sharon Beynon said. Pre-curtain call As he prepares for the Student Council- sponsored talent show in the Fine Arts Facility, senior Brian Johnson, focuses lights on the light bridge. Technical theatre afforded students the opportu- nity to leam theatre management and maintenance. An for the teacher Nobody, but nobody liked them except for the teachers. Brown-nosers, good- ie-goodies or more com- monly, teacher ' s pets, did their best work, showed- off their best behavior and earned the best grades in class. ' There ' s always some student in every class who kisses up to the teacher with cute jokes, nice comments or brilliant an- swers to tough questions, junior Leon Haven said. I ' m usually not one of them but some can be pretty entertaining. Take a Number ACADEMICS Brown-nosers seek good side ' of instructors Despite their lack of popularity among stu- dents, teacher-pets con- sider good points with the teacher more important. I try to be nice to all of my teachers because I figure that they ' ll be nice to me when it comes time to average grades, junior Tracy Church said. Some students feel that ultra nice students rely on free grades . It bothers me that I sit and work hard for my grades while others will sit and be really personable and get away with mur- der, junior Stephanie Liebcrmann said. Attention given to favorite students instead of equal distribution, caused some tension. I can ' t stand teach- ers who devote every ex- ample used in class to their favorite student, se- nior Diana Boyd said. It becomes so obvious that that teacher is favoring someone else. TAKE A TURN While they stand in line, seniors Chelsea Barker, Sean Lanahan and Thad Holt wait for Don Farmer ' s assistance. Students spent hours in class and out working on compositions and journals.

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Applause Performers work hard for minutes of audience praise Drama performers complained about rehear- sals, journalism staffers about paste-ups and aca- demic decathlon mem- bers about endless read- ing. For motivation and morale, organized groups found ways of making meetings, projects and competitions more bear- able and even enjoyable. The best kind of en- couragement is a hug from someone and a good word about the show, se- nior madrigal Amy Drew said. Every choir, drama and journalism member interviewed agreed that parties and an occasional good job said to them kept them motivated to do that good job. Even if I don ' t see a banner for my play, it does help if p eople tell me good luck before the per- formance, senior actress Fleur Fox said. However, less than eight percent of the dra- ma budget went for pub- licity, so few students knew that plays actually had been staged. I don ' t see many people saying ' yeah about the work that band does. They know we are there. HANG urs Showcasing works of art from student artists, senior Brian Land hangs one last sketch on the wall of the office. Art students achieved notoriety after their winnings at the state competition. Type cast While typing in a study sheet for the academic decathlon, junior Scott Defoy imitates the typical typist. Academic decathlon members prepared for weeks in advance for the grueling test. So LONG With costumes on, junior Tres Finley and senior Charles Hampton rehearse for their performance in Bye Bye Birdie. but nobody knows how much work we really put in, junior band member Lisa Wells said. Students involved in more than one activity weren ' t as concerned over the morale issue, but 15% of all performing partici- pants said morale builders made no real difference. Oftentimes, I say that student reaction to the newspaper doesn ' t matter, but it does, Feather duster editor Dane Reese said. It ' s great when we hear that students and teachers liked the issue and specifically react to its content. With each play, choir or band concert, is- sue of the paper or aca- demic contest, morale and motivation took the leading role, the solo and the banner headline. In the running Academic decathlon team gets into top mental shape saiooi 4X% f¥ A rA How MANY HOURS DO YOU DEVOTE TO EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES PER WEEK? [fi 3-4 HRS 9% 0-2 HRS 23% 5-6 HRS 11% 7-8 HRS 57% t 7X, From football to golf to swimming to academic decathlon. Students rarely considered the top honor students as subjects for spectator sports. I always thought of Westlake as a bunch of dumb, rich kids who bought their grades; I never thought of any one as a brain, sophomore Dottie Brown said. Unlike athletic teams, academic team members worked all their lives, not just a few days a week. The skills it took to win the decathlon couldn ' t be learned in a few weeks training. I tried to play sports, and be on the decathlon team but it was too much of a strain, so I dropped sports, senior Barrett Webb said. As students excelled in school, some parents placed pressure on their kids, pushing them more into the academic arena. My parents went in- I tried to play sports and be on the decathlon team, but it was too much... senior Barrett Webb sane when I said I ' d rather go out than study for an upcoming meet, senior Lauren Cassel said. Teachers took pride in the select students who participated in the de- cathlon. Seeing these few students accept such a challenge drove teachers on to keep coaching and teaching. Everytime I see one of my students name on the decathlon list,it lifts me up. 1 like to think that they owe some of that knowledge to me, English teacher Mrs. Jean Dahlquist said. Balls and other ath- letic equipment used tra- ditionally by competitive teams, demanded little attention from academic decathlon team mem- bers— they used books. Edited by Elise Rasmussen I TWO FOR THE SHOWl

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Can-can With agility, Hyline mem- bers perform durin; a pep rally performance showcasing skits, dances and cheers for teams while providing short- er classes for students. JAMMING Imitating his favorite rock-n- roller, German teacher Scott Gardner surprises his class with a song and dance routine. .--i ll Hamming it up Teachers reveal hidden ' talents ' to liven up daily classroom routines Teachers displayed pect. more than the gift of knowledge as they show- ed-off their numerous, diverse talents. Herr Gardner will be teaching us German verbs and he ' ll break into a song and dance routine, senior Pat Spong said. It really keeps us in line never knowing what to ex- Although methods varied, students agreed that techniques proved effective when they incor- porated out-of-the-ordina- ry gimmicks. With teacher talents, students said they en- joyed less tense, more productive class time, complete with live enter- tainment. Why do you PARTICIPATE PERFORMANCE ACTIVITIES? Pride on sleeves Letter-jackets, senior pins show achievement status Pride, a feeling that !chocd through the halls )f school, from the backs )f the biggest athletes to he pins on the shirts of seniors. Pride seemed to 36 the driving force be- nind the display of letter ackcts. The good thing ibout them is that the schools biggest hero and ;he schools most lowly plebeians are all honored by letter jackets, senior Steve Cooper said. However, one group of plebeians were almost always overlooked. Fresh- men earned only two letter jackets last year. 1 don ' t really see many freshman with the jackets, but the few that have them are pretty cool, freshman Jill Hack- ney said. Not only were the let- ter jackets a symbol of pride, but senior pins re- mained an honor for those earning the token. I think that the pins are a nice gesture on the part of the administration although I wear mine very rarely, senior Christy Moody said. Even though meant as an honor, many people thought senior pins ob- solete. I think wearing a se- nior pin is kind of silly. I mean how hard is it to be- come a senior? Why should we be honored just for existing for four years? senior Matt Woolley said. From patches to pins, students displayed successes, talents and abilities and wore them with pride. I usually wear my senior pin because I fig- ure this is the last year that I can, senior Rebec- ca Fox said. .gli STlioul of UllUi Stuck together For their volunteer services, teacher Mrs. Judy Fincannon places achievement pins on sophomores Lisa Famic and Mary Carter. Pinned Continuing a tradition, prin- cipal John Matysck pins se- nior Shannon Lund for reach- ing her leadership role as an upiJcrcIassman. Edited by John Rubio TWO FOR THE SHOW